Traffic Will Give You a Headache on Civic Center Drive Starting Monday

You know what they say: there are only two seasons in Minnesota-- winter and you know what else, right? Well, that season is set to kick into high gear along Civic Center Drive in Rochester starting Monday.

Google Street View

Only this time, you won't see anymore familiar (if not annoying) orange barrels, though. That's because crews won't be working on the road along Civic Center Drive; they're instead updating the traffic lights at three busy intersections.

According to the Rochester Public Works website, the project will include upgrades including "improved vehicle detection technology and improved signal head alignment over the traffic lanes. Flashing yellow arrows that allow dedicated left turn movements will be installed at 6th Avenue (for all directions) and at 4th Avenue (for East/West directions)," the site said.

Which means you'll see flashing red lights (for both directions) on Civic Center Drive at 4th, 11th and 16th Avenues as crews work to make those changes. This Post Bulletin story says they WON'T be doing any work during the busy morning and afternoon commute times, though.

Work is scheduled to take place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. starting Monday, June 4th. But head's up: even though there won't be any lanes closed, when crews were working on the traffic lights at 16th Ave earlier this year (and they flashed red in both directions), I noticed traffic did start to back up along Civic Center Drive-- and that was early in the afternoon, around 1:30 p.m., so you might want to take an alternate route!